Is process tainted by politics?

An incumbent who wants his job back won't see his name on the state school board ballot come November. Neither will a former president of the National School Boards Association, who hoped voters would elect her to shape school policy.

Mike Anderson and Mossi White didn't make the cut.

And that has some observers questioning whether the nominating process is flawed.

The new State Board of Education nominating and recruiting committee chose not to forward Anderson and White's names to the governor, who decides who goes on the ballot.

Some hint that school choice and reform politics have come into play.

Others note some education representatives on the committee weren't there to cast votes.

And even a candidate who got the committee's blessing says the governor won't put him on the ballot because he disagrees with her politics.

Gov. Olene Walker will announce official school board candidates Friday.

"I don't think this is what the Legislature intended at all," said Gainell Rogers, a regional PTA director who oversees branches in Alpine School District. "I think they intended to get the very best possible nominees to the governor, and that is not what happened."

Nearly anyone, from homemakers to convicted felons can — and have — run for public office in Utah. If more than two people seek the same seat, a primary election narrows the field.

But not in state school board elections.

Office seekers must declare candidacy then interview with a committee, which recommends three or more names to the governor. The governor picks two to go on the ballot in each district. If just one or two apply — as is the case in District 1 in northern Utah, District 4 in in Ogden and District 8 in south-central Salt Lake County, both go on the ballot.

Changed process

The nominating process was set up in a 1991 law, aimed partly at ensuring quality candidates for a relatively obscure yet influential body, the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel reports.

Until this year, all 15 board districts had a local nominating committee.

But in 2003, the panels were replaced by a single committee under an education reform law. Earlier this year, SB185 clarified the 12-member committee's membership be split evenly between business and education interests.

"There's no question that in the past I think (the board) has been weighted toward the education community," said Sen. Tom Hatch, R-Panguitch, who sponsored both bills. "I think it was simply an attempt to put some balance in there."

But education circles have been leery of the new nominating committee. And the statewide committee's premiere nominating action fueled the concern.